Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin aren’t the only notable birth anniversaries of 2009. The Rock Island Public Library and Augustana College will mark “anniversaries you might have overlooked” on four Thursdays this fall at the Rock Island Main Library, 401 19th Street. Free! Coffee and cookies served after each lecture.

Nov. 12: “Lord Tennyson’s Reaction to 19^th Century Science” Alfred, Lord Tennyson served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1850 to his death in 1892, one of the longest tenures in history. His lifespan from 1809 to 1892 placed him in a unique position to comment on the Victorian age of progress, a time of rapid change in science, medicine and technology. Dr. Roald Tweet, professor emeritus of English and former holder of the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities will consider how the poet reacted to the conflict between faith and scientific knowledge.